French police ‘abuse’ Muslims under emergency laws

A French soldier on guard at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, following a terror attack that left 130 people dead in the capital city on November 13, 2015 PHOTO: AFP

FRANCE has carried out abusive and discriminatory raids and house arrests against Muslims under its current state of emergency, traumatising and stigmatising those targeted, including children and the elderly, human rights groups said.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International published separate research on Wednesday, pointing to cases where excessive force had been used, leading to human rights violations including violence.

Those targeted said the police burst into homes, restaurants, or mosques; broke people’s belongings; threw Qurans on the floor; terrified children; and placed restrictions on people’s movements so severely that they lost jobs and income, or suffered physically.